Ozara
by OzaraNeiraCallista
Summary: When a brother and a sister decide to go on a hike in the woods surrounding their rural Coloradian town with their best friend Jeshin, things go terribly wrong. They get lost and they start seeing fantastical beasts. Who knew they were real.


Ozara

**By: Connor Bergin**

**~Prologue~**

My name is Ozara. It's exotic isn't it? Well, I like it, and so do a lot of my friends, so don't criticize me. Something special has happened to me. I have never told this to another living soul. Well, except my cat Chloe, but what does she know? It's a magical adventure full of action, romance, and betrayal. Here goes. I hope I don't frighten you…

**~Chapter 1: Into the Woods~**

"Neira, come on. We need to hurry to meet Jeshin at the crosswalk" said Ozara, yelling up to his sister from the basement of the three-story house. Ozara trudged up the basement stairs. Sometimes his sister just took too long. Girls…

"Ozara! I'm ready!" Neira called down the basement stairs. "Hold your horses!" 

It's about time, thought Ozara, letting out a deep and exaggerated sigh.

Neira quickly packed a water bottle full of apple juice (Neira loved apple juice) and two chocolate chip granola bars for the hike they were about to embark on. Neira and Ozara lived in a small town called Dell in a valley surrounded by Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The town had only one cross walk, which was in the middle of the downtown, and that's where they were going to meet Jeshin in a few short minutes. Jeshin was a family friend who seemed to always be at there house (maybe because of his mothers constant prissy remarks and orders). 

"Hurry up Neira! I have been waiting for a lifetime!" yelled Ozara sarcastically. Neira dashed down the carpeted stairs, not wanting to keep her brother waiting any longer. Once to the bottom, she had to put on her hiking boots, incase it was muddy from the winter thaw. 

"Ok. Finally. Now lets go before Jeshin wonders what has taken us so long. And if he does wonder, I'm going to explain the whole thing honestly." Ozara smirked as Neira sighed, trying not to show that she was angry. Sometimes Neira didn't understand her brother. Well it wasn't all my fault! He had to do his laundry while I had to do my makeup…

Neira and Ozara were on the sidewalk by now, and still not speaking. They always got in little fights like these. They could see Jeshin now, texting as usual. Ozara hated being around him when he did this. It was a beautiful spring day; he didn't need to be texting constantly. 

"Hey." said Jeshin in a awkward tone of voice.

"Um, hey?" said Neira. They burst out laughing, not really knowing why. Neira was always the one trying to make people laugh. They started walking towards Jeshin's house, where they would start hiking into the woods. Jeshin's woods was filled with trails worn away by animals and the occasional mountain biker. It was a perfect spring day, the birds chirping wildly, with poofy clouds that reminded him of marshmallows. There was a light breeze which brought the scent of newly mowed grass. 

"Well, what a beautiful day…" said Jeshin, trailing off as if in a trance. "It sure is." responded Ozara. They were turning down the last bend on Jeshin's cul-de-sac when they heard his mother yell from the upstairs window, "Jeshin! You forgot to take your medication this morning!" Jeshin sighed. Everyone in the town knew he had a extremely rare attention dysfunction that made him daze in and out on certain things uncontrollably. Like if he wanted to learn how to factor polynomials in math class, instead he'd just focus on his pencil. Someone would have to yell in his ear to make him snap out of it. But luckily this only happened when he didn't take his medication. They reached his front door.

"Here, you guys can come in and wait for me in the kitchen." Jeshin offered. "Ok." said Ozara. They stepped into a very organized household. The rug was blue with clouds and black birds flying around. Probably to represent spring. Jeshin's mom was an awesome interior designer. If an idea popped into her head, she instantly tried to pursue it. "Hello dears. How are you?" asked Jeshin's mom.

"Excellent!" yelled Neira. "Oh, you're in a good mood today!" chuckled Cassie. Neira smiled. They heard a clinking of glass from in the kitchen, probably Jeshin getting a glass down from the mahogany cupboard.

"So I hear you guys are going for a hike today. It's the perfect day for one!" Jeshin's mom said, obviously trying to start a conversation. "Yeah, we are. And it was Ozara's idea." "I see…" She said mysteriously. Neira honestly thought that it was a brilliant idea. After all, spring was her favorite season. By now, Jeshin was returning from the kitchen with an extra water bottle tucked under his arm just incase he got thirsty. They'd only be gone a couple of hours max.

"Ok honey. You be careful and don't forget to drink water so you don't get dehydrated." ordered Jeshin's mom. "I wont." assured Jeshin. "And make sure you stay on the path. If you wander off of it, you may get lost. Oh and turn on your cell phone incase I need to call you. And one more thing…" At this point, Jeshin interrupted her "Yes, mom, I know. Don't get into any mischief! I know, I know…" "Ok, well, I know you. You always seem to find a way to get into trouble. Just be careful. And please don't get hurt!" "I won't! Love you." "Love you to. Now go and have fun. See you later."

Ozara, Neira, and Jeshin all waved goodbye and started walking towards the woods. Jeshin's yard was filled with flowers of many kinds- tulips, chrysanthemums, roses, daisies, and hundreds more! It had a small pond that was crystal clear with goldfish swimming around. They were crossing the wooden bridge that connected one side of the pond to the other. It was so peaceful, the gentle trickle of the waterfall splashing on the eroded rocks, the light breeze, the twittering of the birds… He still couldn't get over how nice out it was. And how it was the perfect day for a hike. They were at the edge of the woods now. The forest was so green, it was like it had been painted over by a paintbrush dipped in green paint. The trees were tall and had lush green leaves. The bushes had juicy raspberries growing on them. And wildflowers blanketed the ground.

"Wow. It's unbelievably beautiful!" Ozara said, awestruck. "Yeah…" said Jeshin, lost in thought. They were hiking up a steep trail that would eventually lead to the main trail where they had mountain bike races and where snow mobiler's could ride.

"Man, this mountain is so steep!" Neira panted. "I know, but we are nearly there." replied Jeshin. 

"Guys, can we take a break?" asked Ozara getting his water bottle out of his knapsack, already knowing the answer. He popped off the cap and chugged half of the ice cold water instantly. It gave him a brain freeze when it trickled down his heated esophagus. He put the cap back on the bottle and quickly shoved his thumb to the roof of his mouth to quench the pain. Jeshin and Neira also took long, thorough drinks. 

"Are you ready to continue hiking?" urged Neira? "I want to see how beautiful this mountain is up close and personal! How much longer until the main trail, Jeshin?"

"Oh, I'd say about 10 minutes maximum if we don't keep stopping for breaks." he said sarcastically, trying to make a point to Ozara that if they didn't keep hiking, they would never finish before dark. Ozara sighed a dramatic sigh. 

"Sorry. I cant help having asthma!" Gees, sometimes he just couldn't take the negative remarks his friend said. It was so frustrating. He heard a rustling in the grass nearby. "Guys, do you hear that?" said Neira, clearly alarmed by the sudden noise.

"Probably just a bird or deer. They're common in these woods." said Jeshin, being the know-it-all he was. But Neira didn't think it was a bird or a deer. She thought it was much more. It came closer… closer… closer. 

"AHHHH!" Neira screamed, falling backward, taking Ozara with her. "Watch it!" Ozara yelled at his sister. 

"Um, guys, don't take this the wrong way, but you're a bunch of fraidy-cats! Its only a rabbit!" Neira felt so stupid! How could she be so frightened over a stupid, little rabbit? How embarrassing! They kept trudging up the steep hillside, nearly toppling over with exhaustion.

"I feel so wimpy if I cant make it up a stupid little hillside!" complained Ozara, flexing his biceps.

"It's not just A hillside. It's I huge, steep, and treacherous hillside!" panted Neira.

"Oh, quit whining! Your negativity is wearing off on me!" yelled Jeshin. Apparently that shut up Neira for a little bit because they continued to walk up the steep hillside with only the sound of there pants to listen to.

"How much farther?" complained Neira. "How about I tell you when we are there, ok Neira? I don't want to sound mean but just SHUT UP!" Neira started crying.

"Oh come on now. I didn't mean to offend you in any way! Please stop crying! You might attract some foul beasts…" Neira continued to cry. "You don't want to get mauled by a bear or rammed by a buck, do you?" Neira continued to cry. "Please just be quiet!" Jeshin screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Oopsies." He didn't mean it to be THAT loud. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Just than he smelt a very foul stench. So foul he couldn't keep his eyes open it made his eyes tear up. Ugh what was that smell? Was it coming from his left? From his right? He had no idea! Did he dare look? He squinted his eyes a little and realized that he dropped his backpack. He had stumbled backward a ways against a mossy tree. His backpack was open and there was a little lump about two and a half feet tall kneeling down in front of it. What or who was that thing? He was scared to be quite honest. Guys weren't supposed to be scared were they? They were supposed to be brave, right? Well he thought so! He got a surge of bravery and quickly opened his eyes. Once he opened his eyes, he realized that there was a very short and wrinkly man-thing looking up at him. In a very scratchy voice he said, "Who are you and why are you trespassing on my land?" Jeshin didn't know what to say.

"Uh… We were just going for a hike. If you let us pass, we will never set foot on your land ever again." He was really offended by this little "thing". Who does he think he is trying to make it seem like he owns this whole forest?

"This is not just MY land. This is the mighty kingdom of Ukoznia. Here, there are many ferocious creatures who roam this land trying to take it over. And I am one of them. I am a goblin. The names Haggs by the way. You obviously have been a victim of my secret attack- super bad B.O. It causes any creature's eyes to water uncontrollably. It's a miracle how you managed to open your own eyes."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did you say this kingdom was called Ukoznia? There is no such place! We "humans" live in AMERICA! Land of the free! And since when do goblins exist? They are creatures only known in books! I must be dreaming… Oh please, Lord, help me!" screamed Ozara.

"Who's this Lord?" questioned Haggs. "This woods is ruled by two clashing kings, rivals you could say- Kazaa and Demsea. I, and so do many other evil creatures worship Kazaa. The goody-two-shoe creatures worship Demsea. So now tell me about this "Lord".

"Well, in our civilization we worship God. Well, there are many other religions who worship other gods but my family worships God and Jesus, son of God. Some people don't even believe in a god or worship a god. Those people are called atheists. But it doesn't matter. Anyway, Lord is a nickname for God because he is the ruler, the king."

"I see…." Haggs said mysteriously. "Well, better be on my way. You know, you never will be able to escape again. Once a creature enters Ukoznia, they never are able to exit. HAHAHAHAHA! Have a nice day…" With that, he stood up- still barely three feet tall, with his neck hunched over like the hunchback of Notre Dame, and walked away. But as he was walking out, he wrenched toward Jeshin, punched him in the jaw to knock him out, and started dragging him across the leave-strewn ground. A few seconds later, he was out of sight. Jeshin was gone.

**~ Chapter 2: Callista~**

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" screamed Ozara, running towards the way Haggs ran off as he said this. Man, this goblin thing was sure fast. Why does it seem like when I run towards him he keeps getting farther ahead. Oh, now I know! He's just too fast for me! Don't worry Jeshin, I'll get you back sooner or later! Hopefully sooner. Where do I go now? Ozara thought.

"Ozara! Where are you?" yelled Neira, somewhere from behind him.

"I'm just up the path a ways!" yelled Ozara. He stopped breathing heavily to try and hear Neira's footsteps crunching the dead leaves under her feet. Sure enough, she was coming from behind him.

"There you are! Why'd that…. Thing…. Take Jeshin? And what was that thing anyways?" wondered Neira.

"Well, I'm not entirely convinced that that was a goblin, but all I know is that we have to find Jeshin, and fast! We could be stuck up here for days! Months! What are we going to do? We don't have a compass or anything! All we have is your stupid granola bars and a little water. That'd last us a day! Oh what are we going to do?"

"Oh calm down! All we need to do is follow that "things" footsteps and woola, we will eventually meet up with this "thing"."

" First off, we need to figure out what this "thing" is. It couldn't be a goblin! They aren't real! And did you see how fast he was moving? I doubt we'll catch up with him soon! Oh, this is hopeless! What are we going to do?"

"Like I said before, just calm down. This thing cant have gone that far, so all we need to do is follow its footsteps. It cant be that far away. It'll have to stop sooner or later."

"Ok, you lead the way than Miss Smartypants."

"Fine, I will. Follow me." And with that, they started following the path that the goblin had ran down. They had no idea where it went or how far ahead "it" was. They didn't even know what "it" was. Could it be like a hermit that lived in the woods? Or maybe a mutated creature. No, no, no! He was taking this way to far.

"Ozara, what would happen if something bad happens to Jeshin? What would we do?"

To be honest, Ozara did not have a clue as to what they would do next. He was just hoping if they followed this path long enough, they'd eventually meet up with "it".

"I'd say we should yell for help. Usually in movies someone hears them and than everyone's safe and sound." But that was just the movies… though Ozara. He didn't want to scare Neira. They were gradually walking forward. They were just awestruck as to how fast things have happened in this past hour. What? Only an hour! Thought Ozara, looking at his watch. It seemed much longer.

"Ozara, I'm scared." whispered Neira, as if she thought someone was listening behind a tree.

"It's fine. We'll find Jeshin and be home on time hopefully not worrying mom much. And hopefully we wont get in MUCH trouble…" he said, trailing off as he heard a rustling in the dense forestation to his left. He was walking on the left side of the path, Neira on the right.

"Neira, did you hear that?" Ozara said, now sounding like Neira did. "No…" she said, worried. "What did it sound like?"

"It was just rustling in the leaves. It sounded far away. Probably just a rabbit or a deer." But he didn't believe what he just said. Maybe it was a bear. Or a person!

"Hey! Over here! HELP! WE'RE LOST!" yelled Ozara as loud as he could.

"Are you crazy! Get down! Be quiet!" said someone over in the trees. "What?" said Ozara confused. "Just do it!" said the girl. It was most definitely a girl, thought Ozara as he lowered himself to the dirt covered trail. Who was this girl? What was she running away from?

"Guys, over here!" whispered the girl. "In the trees to your left." Ozara didn't know what to do. Should he go hide with the girl? Should he trust her? Finally he decided to go hide with the girl. Maybe she could help them find their way home. He got Neira to follow and started to crunch through the underbrush. Once they got into the forest, they saw the girl hiding behind a huge pine tree. No, not a huge pine tree, a GIGANTIC pine tree. It was the biggest tree he had ever seen. It towered above all the other trees like a skyscraper in a tiny village. It was at least three times the size of the other trees in the forest.

"Come on, hurry!" yelled the girl. "They'll see you!" With that, they half jumped half jogged over to the pine tree the girl was hiding behind trying to muffle the crunch of the leaves under their feet. Trying not to breath heavily, they knelt down next to the girl. They waited very anxiously for the people to pass.

"Where is the she!" said a very gruff, male voice.

"I don't know sir!" said a much fainter, and more timid, voice.

"Well, find her! Other wise I will lock you up in the lowest of the dungeons for all of eternity!" yelled the horrid man.

"Sorry, sire! We'll find her, don't worry!" With that, they heard the horses hooves clop down the dirt path, farther and farther away each second. Finally, they couldn't hear it any more.

"Woo! That was a close one!" piped the girl, now very happy. "Well, bye!" said the girl very suddenly.

"Wait! We need your help!" said Neira form the ground. The girl slowly turned around.

"What do you need my help for?" the girl asked, kind of snobbishly.

"Well, we are kind of lost. Could you help us find our way out of these woods?" asked Ozara, tentatively. The girl laughed. "What's so funny?" asked Ozara.

"Well, first off, there is no way you can escape these woods. Second off, where'd you come from?" What did she mean, "Where did they come from?" They lived in the same state, the same city. Wait. The girl was dressed in elegantly swathed clothes made of some kind of silk material. She had a sky blue bra like thing covering her breasts, and some jean like pants. But they were faded pink. And very torn and raggedy like she'd been crawling through the underbrush for days.

"What's you name?" asked Neira, out of the blue.

"My name is Callista. Princess and heir to the throne of Knozdool." said the girl named Callista extravagantly. "What's Knozdool?" asked Ozara.

"Knozdool is one of the 6 kingdoms of Ukoznia. The one I used to live in is the death kingom. People there know death magic the best and creatures that inhabit that land are called death creatures."

"What are the other kingdoms called?" asked Neira. "Well, there's Balazar, that's the ice kingdom. Cindaar is the water kingdom, Hatopia is the fire kingdom, Liphasaura is the air kingdom, and Satrogh is the Earth kingdom."

Neira and Ozara seemed stunned. How could this be true? Was this true? This was Dell, Colorado, population: 200! Nothing ever happens there! Who was this girl? Who were those men they just saw? He had loads of questions, and he needed answers.

"Exactly how big is this place u call Ukoznia?" asked Ozara.

"Well, from Thead-Drone to Oehta its about 150 miles away." said Callista. "What's Thead-Drone and Oehta?" asked Ozara, exasperatedly. "Well, Thead-Drone is the Death Kingdom's capitol city. The evil king Kazaa has his fortress there on top of MooBoo Sha."

"What's MooBoo Sha?" asked Ozara, nonchalantly, as if he was used to all this nonsense.

"MooBoo Sha is the hill that Kazaa's fortress is built on. Demsea's fortress is located in Oehta in the Earth Kingdom deep in the Quilaboone Forest. That's where I'm headed."

"Why are you headed there, unattended and so far away from your home?" asked Neira, mesmerized by Callista's magical words.

"Long story. I'll tell it to you on our way to Oehta. Sound like a plan?" asked Callista excitedly, as if she finally had someone to talk to, other than herself.

"NO, NO, NO! We are not following you to this place you call Oehta. We are not here to mingle around with everyone we see. We are lost and we need to rescue are friend. If you could help us, that'd be amazing of you." shouted Ozara, puffing up his chest confidently. All was silent. Callista started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Ozara, obviously offended. "I'm just laughing at how stupid you're acting right now!" giggled Callista.

"Well, look who's talking! Look at the girl who's wearing clothes so raggedy a hobo would even point and laugh at you!"

"What's a hobo?" asked Callista. "Ugh! Never mind. Just can you help us please!" asked Ozara, running out of patience.

"The only way you have a possibility of escaping this forest is by coming with me to Oehta. It's not that much further. Maybe a one day's travel."

"One day's travel?" screamed Ozara, exasperatedly. "We have to be home by dark, and that's in less than 5 hours! Oh man, my mom's going to kill me!"

"Chill, man! Just come with me. Here, I'll even show you Trocky." said Callista.

Before he could ask who Trocky was, Callista snapped her fingers and instantly a very pretty, sparkly dwarf-thing appeared on her shoulders. "Wha-" But before he could finish his sentence, the dwarf-thing speaked.

"Hi! I'm Trocky! I'm a earth sprite and I love peanut butter! Haha!" Whoa. This thing could speak, and fast! He had trouble understanding what he said. But before he could ask him to repeat himself, he started speaking again.

"We earth sprites enjoy lush forests and having a companion to rest on. We love the outdoors and enjoy having contests to see which one of us can fly the fastest, highest, and farthest without landing. Haha!" Oh, wow. I must be going crazy, thought Ozara.

"So are you coming with me or not?" asked Callista, obviously anxious to get this show on the road. "Well, can you help us? We need to find our friend and our way out of this woods."

"Sure! Just come with me to Oehta and it'll be a deal."

"Ok! We'll go!" said Neira. "What? We will? Neira, we might not be back soon, or ever." said Ozara, worried.

"So! This place is so cool! We'll go. Just ignore him. He doesn't know what he's talking about." said Neira.

"To Oehta!" cheered Callista, throwing her hands up in the air.

**~Chapter 3: Ooglog~**

"How much farther?" whined Ozara.

"You've asked that every other minute. We'll be there when we get there." Callista had said this every time Ozara asked if they were there yet, and it was getting on her nerves.

"So, is there anything else you can tell us about Ukoznia?" asked Neira. She was obviously into all this magic stuff.

"Well, there are certain spells each kingdom has to learn. In Oehta and Thead-Drone they have a huge room in their castles called the Room of Elements. From what I've heard, you go in there and they have obstacle courses based around the 6 main elements and you try and get across. Some succeed and that's what element they are. Some fail miserably and that's not the element they are. Like if I was fire, water would be my weakness so I'd do the worst in the water portion of the obstacle course. Get it?"

"Ya. It sounds cool. What element are you?" asked Neira, enthralled.

"Well, I was death, but I'm trying to run away from my old life and start a new one here in Oehta. So I'm going to the Room of Elements to see what my true element is. I was forced to learn death magic. Boy, was it painful."

"What'd…. What'd they to you?" stuttered Neira

"Well, they just forced me to cast the spells. When you can't learn a spell that's in your element range, you go through brutal mental and physical pain. It's horrible."

"Why'd you have to learn death magic?" asked Neira.

"Well, my dad's the king of the death kingdom so I was the princess and heir to his throne. But I ran away because he was treating me so badly."

"Oh. I'm sorry." said Neira, encouragingly.

"What are you sorry for? Death people are hot headed and only think of themselves. But not me. I'm hoping I'll get earth because their nature is gracefulness and I also love nature, which is convenient because their land is filled with many different environments."

"I hope I get water. I love swimming and it just tastes good." giggled Neira.

"Neira, we are just finding Jeshin than we are out of this forest hopefully forever. Sorry if your offended Callista, but we have to get home, so can we please move faster?" said Ozara, sarcastically.

"Anything for you…dad." grunted Callista. Before he could respond, they heard a rustling down the rocky cliff side to their left.

"What was that?" whispered Neira. "Oh, not again!" wheezed Ozara. They rushed over to a willow tree and kneeled behind the enormous trunk. They waited until…

"Ugh, so ugh, gotta get ugh, so ugh, palla ugh, keep going ugh…"

"What is that?" whispered Neira, frightened.

"It's a troll, and be quiet!" hissed Callista. But it turned out it was too loud. It got the troll's attention, which wasn't a shock because it had the biggest ears he had ever seen. Bigger than an elephants, and that's saying something.

"Who's there!" groaned the troll. "Come out and fight!"

"Whatever you do, don't move!" whispered Callista, as quietly as she could.

"I heard that! Come out and fight!" grunted the troll, still edging closer with every word. Callista told them to stay behind the tree no matter what. What was she thinking? Why would she take on such a foul beast by herself. Wait, I don't believe in these things and this place. What was I thinking?

I had to help Callista. She couldn't take the beast on alone! I stood up and snuck up around behind the tree. He crawled through the itchy grass over to another big willow tree. There were willow trees surrounding a sunny meadow. In the middle of the meadow, Callista and the troll were fighting viciously, trying to kill one another. She wasn't going to make it our alive! She needed help!

"Hey! Over here! Come and get me!" he stepped out from behind the willow tree and started walking, very slowly, out into the meadow. This got the troll's attention. He turned away from Callista, and started slouching towards me. With this opportunity, Callista unsheathed a long, shiny sword from its holster which was hanging around her waist, and started following the troll. She was obviously going to wait for the right moment to swing the long, sharp sword into his bulging brown back.

"Come on! Are you scared? Come on, fight me!" yelled Ozara, building confidence. The troll made a gurgling sound from deep in his throught, opened his mouth, and released a superb yell. It echoed throughout the valley for awhile, than all was quiet. Ozara, very slowly, started creeping backwards. The troll, with his back arched very awkwardly, charged towards Ozara with great speed, rumbling the earth as he went. Callista went with him. 100 feet, 75 feet, 50 feet away from him. Come on Callista! Get him! With a burst of energy, Callista lifted her sword above her head and sprinted towards the troll. The troll stumbled on a tree root, tripped onto the ground, and grunted. Callista was right behind him. She lifted her sword above her head and let it go down into the troll's thick back. It made a squelching sound as it sliced through his thick skin. All was silent.

"Wow." said Ozara, breathless.

"Wow", said Neira, completely and utterly shocked.

"Well, let's check him out." piped Callista.

"What do you mean 'check him out'"? asked Ozara, dumbfounded.

"Well, we'll check his bag to see what he has in it. Than we'll be on our way".

"Oh joy…" leered Ozara.

Callista walked over to the troll's limp body and chopped off the knot that was securing his hip sack. She pulled as hard as she could to get the frayed rope out from under his behind.

"What could possibly be in that thing's bag?" snapped Ozara.

"Hmm. Maybe money, jewels, food, a map! You're so dumb sometimes!" said Callista sarcastically.

"Well sorry! I'm kind of new to this thing and I don't exactly believe in it too!"

"Well maybe you should find your own way you little know-it-all!" screamed Callista.

"Fine!" He stood up forcefully.

"Guys, calm down! We are all in this together. We need each other to find our way home." said Neira, separating them. Ozara sighed while he stood up straight.

"Fine. Just hurry up and get us to this castle."

"Well, it's getting late so we'll probably have to camp here for the night."

"What? But-" screamed Ozara.

"Just hold your horses! It's not that big of a deal!"

"Of course it's a big deal! My mom's going to freak once she realizes we aren't home! Does anyone else care that we might actually not get out of this forest?" yelled Ozara, stomping away into the shadows of the willow trees.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Callista, shocked.

"He's just… sensitive." Neira said, trying to think of the right word.

"Come on, let's follow him and make camp." They walked into the sunlit forest hoping to find a safe and serene spot to camp that night.

**~Chapter 4: Thorbjorg~**

The moon shone down on the angry face of Ozara. The fire was crackling in the center of the meadow in the Quilaboone Forest. There was not a cloud in the sky, which was convenient to show every star in the night sky. The air smelt like bonfire smoke and faintly of blood. Blood? What? How could it smell like blood?

I sat up suddenly, smelling the air again. Why did it smell like blood? And fresh too. I unraveled out from underneath my woven blanket. I stretched- lifting my hands high above my head, than walked over to Callista to wake her up. I didn't want to wake Neira because, well, she wasn't nearly as strong as Callista. Not even close. I bent down to wake her up when I felt the ground rumble. Something big was coming from far away, and moving fast. I shot to Callista's shoulder to shake it, but realized she was already up.

"What was that?" she asked sleepily.

"How am I supposed to know?" I whispered.

She blinked the a couple times to get the sleep out of her eyes.

"Shall we wake Neira?" she asked, suddenly full of energy.

"No! What if its something bad. Let's carry her into the woods and lay her at the trunk of a tree to let her continue sleeping."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard! Well, not really, but whatever. What if it's something bad? We need all the help we can get. We should hurry and pack up camp. That things moving fast. Wake Neira up for me please." said Callista, already folding her blanket and stuffing it into her hip sack.

I walked over and shook Neira's shoulder lightly. It was just enough to wake her up.

"Huh… what is it?" she grumbled.

"Come on. Get up. We have to keep moving. Something's coming."

"What's coming?" she asked, literally jumping out of bed.

"We don't know yet. Just pack up your stuff."

I walked over to my stuff. I quickly drank some water and used the rest to extinguish the fire. I than put on my shoes which were still muddy from yesterday's chase through the forest.

"Well, you guys ready?" asked Callista with all of her stuff packed into a backpack-sack thing on her back. And no, it wasn't a backpack.

"Yup. I was born ready!" expressed Neira.

"Wow. Someone's in a good mood!" said Callista.

"I thought we were leaving…" I grumbled, still tired and grumpy from yesterday.

"We are now. Gees, just chill. Gosh you're grumpy!" yelled Callista.

Why did I go along with Jeshin's 'amazing' plan to come up in these stupid woods?


End file.
